NEW PUMPER ON BOARD! Help!

The pumpman cometh.

Today, after a fight of 10 years to get an insulin pump, a burly man in a UPS uniform plopped the box in my arms and waddled away.

I am ready to begin my (expensive and scary) journey.

I have my initial appointment on March 30th for training and am going through the books and web course now.



So, open call.

I need advice from the experts on this thing.


  1. I’m prone to very quick, violent drops in blood sugar… But i generally run very high (A1C is 11)
  2. i have a horrible high spike in the early am
  3. i need to know about infection and site issues
  4. medtronic mini paradigm revel (i think it’s called)… tips, problems



    I love you all for all your advice and support. Seriously. This community is the only thing keeping me alive sometimes. And I wouldn’t have kept fighting red tape and money and ■■■■■■■■ without your help.



    Sagwa
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I am type 1 for 30 years, I started on the pump in 2000…I love the freedom the pump gives me but its not all fun and games…I guess the biggest issue I have with being a pumper is the weight gain. I also have very sensitve skin and had to try lots of different tape and needles. I am now with the OmniPod, I still have issues with my sites (after 3 days of wearing the pod my skin is itchy and welts up) but I would rather deal with that then with 4-5 shots a day. Good luck to you and let me know if you have any questions!

Sagwa, first take a deep breath…nothing to worry about.

You have two choices, do some reading and get to know your pump before appointment OR keep everything away until the appointment!

By the way…Lovely Pink…Yum Yum!! lol remind me of berry ice cream

If you wanna go by the first choice, I will advise you to read the whole manual (BOOK) that came with it from page 1 until page 377 and the END!! lol

Also watching videos here and their will be nice, don’t be afraid to open it and install a new battery as well as playing with it, but not kick ball or swimming dolphin. Just to be familiar with it. Fellow the steps in the manual. Do the time and date thing…

etc…You will be great and hopefully it will help you in managing your D. I was like you before having the pump, my A1C was 11, 12…but after having the pump it droped to 8 and recently I achieved 7.6 :o)

Feel free to ask anything

Welcome to the world of pumping. Once you have everything sorted out you should have very few issues to deal with. Good luck.

The morning spikes drove me freaking nuts for years but went away quickly w/ the pump. The sales nurse noted them w/ flat basal rates and said “try putting it up .5U/ hr from midnight to 2 AM” and it was like flipping a switch to fix it. W/ shots, I always assumed rates were flat all the time and that I just screwed stuff up. Once I had the pump and a CGM, I realized that little variations over the course of the day can make a huge difference in stability. To me, the important thing is to aim for stability, so you are not chasing the dragon all the time. Insulin is a pretty hard drug I think. Congrats on your pump! I hope you love it!

I pumpeth not, but here is a HUG and best wishes for happy pumping.

Welcome!!
Well I am about 1.1/2 yrs into pumping. It has helped me a great deal. My numbers are steady and somewhat normal. It is a part of everyday life now. What I would say is get onto the Medtronic web site and register for myLearning. I got a work book with my pump and I completed the assignments. I also reached to others I found that were pumpers and got there personal experiences with it.

The early spike sounds like the dawn phenomenon. I deal with it too… not so much now because I have a temp basal were I get an extra between 3 and 9 AM.

I don’t have many issues with infection but the adhesive from my CGM gets a little annoying. I ware my CGM for 2 pump cycles then break for one cycle… so every 3 days off I ware it for 6

I have the model before the Revel- but yours I know you can see your trends for longer then 24 hrs and can also bolus down to .25 of a unit.

If you can get the USB adaptor and sync your pump with the Medtronic site too… I will do that every few weeks so I can get an idea and bring them the reports into my dr…

The one hardest thing I find is the carb counting… not really good at it but getting some better. I use the web site on my iPhone for the CalorieKing web site so I can search there database for carb info…

I heard a little kid at the hospital I work at say as in Finding Nemo “Keep on Swimin! “Keep on Pumpin… Keep on Pumpin” that makes me smile!! Best of luck to you!!

I am new to insulin so only on MDI just wanted to wish you good luck! Hope you love it as much as some of the others here do! Keep us updated.

Congrats on having the determination and the perseverance to get on an insulin pump. You are going to find that you will have much better numbers throughout the day and eventually have a lower A1C. It will take time to get your basal profile setup and a lot of basal testing to flat line your numbers but once done then you will just periodically spot check.

I am confident that your dawn problem well lesson greatly as a lot of T1’s have this same problem. My morning insulin basal requirement almost doubles from 3am to 6am to handle the morning spike. But once you control the morning spike then you are not fighting all morning to bring the numbers within normal range. The glory of pumping is the basal pattern that you create. I have 3 separate patterns I use. 1). Normal daily pattern 2). I have travel pattern when I am away on business ( seems strange but when I travel I am less active or when I am home just laying around I will activate my travel pattern) and 3) I have a sick day pattern which increases my daily pattern about 30%. But again these patterns are all about trial and error and takes work. Another great feature are the carb ratios. My ratios change through out the day. My evening ratio is far greater than my breakfast and lunch.

I am on the Omnipod so I do not know much about the Medtronic but I am sure you will have great success. One additional suggestion is if the Medtronic has a data download software get to know the software and how to read the daily plots. Day to day the plots will not make since but take 2 weeks or even 1 month and overlay it then patterns are clearly visible and adjustments can be made. This is what helps me the most and achieve great numbers

Keep us posted on your progress

  1. Begin slowly. It doesn’t get near perfect for a long time! I began w/A1C 8.7 or so, last was 6.3, pumping now 3 years. It is still not perfect, but oh so close!
  2. Change one thing at a time - especially at the beginning, and make the change for 2 or 3 days before adjusting something else unless the lows are constant!
  3. I have never had infection - last summer spent most of summer in river water at local theme park, pump and all. (Aquapac, MM not waterproof but for me unhooking results in highs that don’t come down) I always put bandaid with antibiotic on site when I remove for a day, sometimes two days if it seems “pinker” than normal.
  4. Don’t hesitate to call MM support and ask for samples of sets/adhesive/etc. What works for you probably won’t work for me! I have never had trouble getting them to send me something to try if I feel I am having trouble with the infusion set.
  5. If you are able to CGMS, makes a world of difference. I began w/MM’s, but have since switched to Dexcom as results better for me. However, it is amazing what the CGMS will show that you wouldn’t think happen, especially at night. And beats having to get up every two hours for finger sticks!
    Good luck! I know I wouldn’t change from pumping - it has sure made dealing with this diabetes so much easier than before!